COUNTERFEIT COINS

Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 3946, 6 May 1930, Page 2

COUNTERFEIT COINS

OVER 1,300 HALF-CROWNS TWO MEN SENT TO PRISON GREAT SKILL ILL-APPLIED. Two coining “kings” who possessed the greatest den ever unearthed in Scotland, and perhaps the most complete illegal plant in the kingdom, were sentenced in the High Court, Edinburgh, a few weeks ago to three years’ penal servitude. They were James Steele, aged forty-five, and Robert Ramsey, aged forty-five, both of Edinburgh, whose crime was detected by an astute woman assistant at a post office. The Solicitor-General for Scotland, who prosecuted, stated that the men displayed extraordinary capacity. The elaborate machinery discovered in their workshop could only be used by skilled men. They also had master dies and ordinary dies. Accused purchased nickel and made the first rough preparation. It was then silvered, stamped, and edged, the date being inscribed by some chemical. It was stated by the Solicitor-General that he had been informed by the Mint officials that there was no record of a case where such high skill and such Jpro cision had been shown in the manufacture of counterfeit coins. It was thei-e----fore not in the public interest that he should go into the case in full detail. Accused’s method of circulating the coins was to send a small boy to a post office to purchase postal orders. Hie coins supplied to the boys were part counterfeit and part genuine. So skilled was the imitation that when the woman assistant in a sub-post office in Edinburgh became suspicious and had the coins examined, the bank officials thought they were genuine. The woman’s suspicious were not set at rest, and finally the woman handed certain coins to the police. The Mint authorities were informed, and it transpired that the coins were false. Hie Solicitor-General added that the detection of the crime was due to the persistence, and, lie almost might sav, the intuition evidenced by the woman assistant. , It was stated, on behalf of accused, that they bad served their ap.-entice-ship together, and as boys studied electricity and magnetism. After the war they continued their study, and very nearly discovered a process of electro-plating or electro-typing, the legitimate object of which would he useful in repairing old machinery and in casting a new covering of steel on machinery and other things. Ihey were in consultation at one time as to taking out a patent for the process. If success had attended their efforts it might have kept them in the paths of virtue. Unfortunately, instead of goh.g on to perfect their process, they drifted into a criminal channel in 1927. In passing sentence, Lord Alness remarked that it appeared that this ugly crime was raising its head in Scotland again. Tlig gravity oi tin? offence, lie told accused, “is apparent when I tell you that you are liable to penal servitude for life. our operations appear to have been carried out on a scale, and you made no fewer than 1,350 counterfeit half crowns. '.I he woman who was responsible for the discovery deserves ’lie highest credit. Your operations have proceeded fotyears —between two and a-lialf and three vears—’evidencing cool delihei ation on the part of each of yon.